Chapter 12

Christopher

 

“Hello?” Jessi asked.

“Hey there, it’s me.”

“I’m aware that it’s you, Christopher. Your name pops up on my phone when you call.”

“I was wondering if you were free to meet up for lunch,” I said.

“I could pull away. Why?” she asked.

“I wanted to talk. To see you, you know—now that we aren’t officially working together any longer.”

“I’m surprised you want to see me now that the show is over,” she said.

“Then—surprise. We can go anywhere you’d like.”

“Okay. That’s fine. Are you familiar with a place called Blue Collar?”

“That eclectic place downtown? Yeah, I am,” I said. “Wanna meet there around noon?”

“Make it twelve-thirty and we’re golden.”

“Twelve-thirty it is.”

I wanted to sit down with Jessi and talk. I couldn’t be sure, but I needed to ask her about that baby. The baby that was apparently hers. She had probably been the one her father was talking to on the phone at the party. There was something I couldn’t shake. Something about that child’s eyes.

There were questions I needed to ask her. Questions that had been rattling around in my head all night. Questions I deserved answers to.

She walked into the restaurant looking incredible. She was in the high-waisted skirt from the show last night and had paired it with this beautiful pale yellow off-the-shoulder top. It fit her curves exactly and accentuated everything about her that I enjoyed. Craved. Even dreamed of when my eyes closed.

But I couldn't think about her body right now. I had important questions I needed to ask her.

“You look rested,” Jessi said. “Glad to not be hounded by all those women any longer?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a mother?” I asked.

Her face went blank as she sat down into her chair.

“I didn’t think the information was important,” she said.

“We were fucking and you didn’t think it was important?”

“Yes, because that was all we were doing. Fucking. The last thing I need is a revolving door of men in my son’s life.”

“How does the father of your child feel about that?” I asked.

“If I knew who he was, I’d ask him,” she said.

If she knew who he was? She couldn’t be serious, right? I was the man who had taken her virginity. Shown her levels of ecstasy beyond her wildest imaginations. I’d only been gone a year and a half. She wasn’t going to be able to convince me that she’d become some sort of loose woman who had ended up with a child who had no father.

I knew Jessi better than that.

She wasn’t that kind of girl.

“How old is your son?” I asked.

“Eight months. Almost nine,” Jessi said.

“How was your pregnancy? I mean, was it a good one?” I asked.

“Why do you care?”

“Because I care about you.”

“Even though we were simply fucking?” I asked.

“Has it ever only been ‘simply fucking’ with us?”

“Hard to tell, since you up and left without a single regard to how it would have made anyone feel.”

“I had my reasons.”

“You’ve made that very clear. And I had my reasons for not telling you I had a child.”

The entire lunch was like that. Back and forth with the anger-filled answers and the vaguely-answered questions. I was frustrated with her, but I couldn't blame her. I had stared at myself long and hard in the mirror last night, and I knew why Caleb’s eyes looked so familiar.

It was because they were mine. Though I had no proof of that other than my own panic-induced patterns of thought.

Had I gotten Jessi pregnant? We had been careful, but it was possible. Hell, we were insatiable back then. Fucking each other anywhere we could possibly swing it without her brother figuring it out. Now, her having her guard up only served as more evidence to confirm my suspicions.

But she was sticking with her story of not knowing who the father was.

“Jessi?”

“Yep?”

“You look lovely in that skirt.”

Her eyes fluttered up to mine as her cheeks flushed.

“Thanks. I figured I could get started on the deal I made with the designer,” she said.

“What deal was that?” I asked.

“I wear the four outfits he gave me within the next two weeks and post them to my social media accounts. I link back to him, he re-blogs me or whatever, and that gives us both the exposure we’re looking for.”

“Sounds like you’ve really got it under control,” I said.

“Always have. It’s the perk of being me.”

“If I asked if I could come over to your place, would you let me?”

Her eyes locked with mind and I watched her guard go back up.

“Why?” Jessi asked.

“Because I want to spend more time with you, but I’ve got someone cleaning my house right now.”

It wasn’t a lie. I did have someone there cleaning. But it was only a topical clean and they were probably already gone.

“I’m going to have my son,” she said.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” I said.

“We won’t be able to—you know—”

“I’m not looking to do anything but continue getting to know you again. Despite our recent encounters, I do want to do that. To catch up on the past couple of years and see how you’ve been,” I said.

“Uh huh.”

“You don’t look convinced.”

“I’m skeptical, but can you blame me?” she asked.

“Probably not. So?”

I watched a grin tick her cheek as I slid out from behind the table.

“Lead the way,” I said.

We got to her apartment and she sent the nanny home for the day. Jessi instantly switched the mode she was in the moment she saw her son. Her body relaxed and her voice softened. Her guard completely came down as she reached for Caleb in his playpen. She put him over her shoulder and he lifted his head to look at me. In that moment, I knew he was mine.

Those eyes.

That smile.

His hair.

Holy shit. I’d gotten Jessi pregnant.

“You tired, sweetheart?” Jessi asked. “Hmm?”

I watched the little boy’s eyes flutter closed as Jessi placed a kiss to his head. It was mesmerizing, watching her with him. The way her powerful, commanding, confident body softened the fall of this helpless little thing.

I’d never seen anything like it before.

“Come on, baby. Let’s go put you down for a nap,” Jessi said.

I followed her down the hallway as she made her way to his room. I watched her settle him down into bed, rubbing his stomach and singing him a sweet little song. I knew that child was mine. I didn't have any proof and I wasn’t sure if I could get Jessi to admit it, but I knew it in my bones.

I had a son.

With Jessi.

“You said he’s eight months old?” I asked.

I watched Jessi shut his door before she turned to look at me.

“Around there. Almost nine now,” she said.

“He doesn’t look much like you,” I said. “Must mean he looks like his father.”

“I wouldn't know. I’m sure he’ll grow into some of my features as he gets older.”

“Did you give birth on time? I mean, did you carry him to full term? He’s a big boy. Means he must be healthy.”

She turned and looked at me with a wary gaze. She swallowed hard and I could tell she was feeling cornered. For the first time in years, I watched Jessi squirm, and it only served to confirm what I already knew in the back of my mind.

In the back of my heart.

“Look, if my having a kid changes—whatever this is—that’s fine. But I feel like I’m being put under a microscope right now and I won’t allow that,” Jessi said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way.”

“My parents did that to me enough when I was pregnant. They were pissed when I didn’t tell them who the father was.”

“So you do know who the father is,” I said.

“No, but refusing to tell them seemed better than saying I didn’t know who it was,” she said.

“I don’t believe you,” I said.

“You don’t have to. It doesn’t change anything.”

We stood in the hallway as the soft sounds of Caleb sleeping softly filtered through the doorway. He was out like a light as the two of us talked in the hallway. Jessi shuffled on her feet, avoiding my gaze with her eyes. She was nervous, and she had every right to feel that way.

I just didn’t know why she wouldn't tell me I was the father. What the hell did she think I was going to do? Be upset with her?

“No,” I said.

“No what?” Jessi asked.

“You having a son—it changes nothing. If anything, it makes you a sexy-ass milf,” I said with a grin.

“You’re relentless, Chris.”

“Have I ever been anything but?”

I reached for her hand and took it in mine. Realization of the life she must have led, and the sleepless nights she was enduring by herself. It all forced me to see a strength in her I’d never seen before. Despite the unanswered questions and the confusion I was feeling, she was more beautiful to me than ever before. Tall, strong, and blossoming with a beauty I couldn’t put my finger on.

Until I figured out she was a mother.

There was something about that fact that shivered my bones. I pulled her close to me, leading her into a kiss as we stood outside of Caleb’s door. He was fast asleep and I could feel Jessi’s body lock up, but I pressed my hands into the small of her back. Keeping her there as fire dripped from my lips.

“Not here,” Jessi said, breathlessly. “Just—come with me.”

She pulled me into the room across the hallway before she quietly shut the door. Her hands tugged at the bow on her waist, and I watched the skirt drop to the floor. Despite everything I knew deep down inside, the woman could turn me on at the drop of a hat. I felt my cock pulsing as her thick thighs came into view, and my hands rushed to her body.

“Chris,” Jessi said breathlessly.

“Yes?” I asked.

“We have to be quiet. Caleb’s a heavy sleeper, but we—have to—”

I ran my hands slowly down the curvature of her ass. I gripped her excess, pulling it into me as I silenced her with a kiss. I felt her melt into me. I felt her entire body give way underneath my muscles. I removed the rest of her clothes and sank her down to her bed, then parted her legs so I could taste her.

She was glistening for me as her hands wound in my hair. The way she was muffling her sounds was almost too much for me. I worked myself out of my shorts as my tongue lapped her up, flicking her clit and making her legs jump around my face. She picked up a pillow and pressed it against her face, much to my pleasure as I looked up at her. She was moaning relentlessly, bucking against my tongue as I flattened it out over her throbbing clit.

She came around my tongue, her legs trapping me as I took a deep breath. I dove into her depths, clamping my hands around her thighs and pulling her close to me. She groaned and whimpered into the pillow, her hips rocking side to side. I kept circling her clit, hearing her beg underneath the pillow as her heels curled into my back.

“I’m coming. Again. Again…Chris. I can’t… It’s too much. Don’t stop. Yes…No…Fuck.”

I unwrapped her strong legs from my face and bent them back to her chest. I opened her up for me as my cock twitched, dripping with a desperate need to be inside of her. Her juices sprayed out at me, coating my cheeks as I closed my eyes. Her whispered chants turned to silent drones as the pillow fell from her face, and I saw the twisted pleasure cascading across her features.

But I wasn’t going to give her a chance to rest.

Not today.

I slipped into her throbbing pussy as I ripped my shirt over my head. I came down onto her soft body, feeling her arms wrap around me. Her fingertips melded into my muscles as my lips found hers, our throats swallowing one another’s sounds. Holding myself back from grunting her name was too much. The silence of it all and the constant listening out for Caleb. It heightened things in a way I’d never experienced before. Her legs locked around me and drew me in closer, my cock pressing deeper into her body.

“Fuck,” I said into her lips. “The things you do to me.”

I pulled out from her and twisted her around, then bent her over the side of her bed. My hand twisted up in the tendrils of her hair as I shoved her legs apart. My cock was bouncing on her ass and she was moaning into the mattress. She ground her hips into me, wanting my dick as much as I wanted her pussy.

So I slipped into her heat and fucked her so hard the mattress moved on the box spring.

I pounded into her as our skin slapped against one another. Her juices were splattering against my skin every time my body slammed into hers. I pulled her head back, forcing her face off the mattress as she bit down on her lower lip. She was trying too hard to keep her noises under control, and it sparked a fire in my gut as my balls pulled up into my body.

I cracked my hand against the swell of her ass and she moaned. Deep. A guttural noise I’d never heard from her before. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I did it again, watching her ass cheeks jiggle for me.

“You can’t—do that—I can’t— I’m so—it’s—”

I released her hair and she reached for the pillow. I smacked her ass again, causing her to moan into the feathered fabric. Again and again, I smacked my hand against her ass. Watching the beautiful pink hue taint her skin my cock jumped. I squeezed and gripped, pounding harder into her. The mattress kept moving off the box spring. I could feel my hips stuttering against her as her pussy clamped down onto my cock.

Stars were bursting behind my eyes as I let myself go, pouring into the woman I couldn’t get enough of.

The woman who I knew in the pit of my gut had carried my child.

I bit down on my tongue as I tried to keep my sounds to myself. Jessi’s body was twisted up, one knee on the box spring and her hands on the traveling mattress. I felt her pussy milking me for all I had, pulling from me what it wanted to have. She was so warm and so tight, and her body so comfortable to fall into.

I caught myself as my hands fell to the box spring.

Placing kisses along her vertebrae, I watched her jump with each touch. I nuzzled my nose into the nape of her neck, watching as goosebumps traveled along her arms. I took in her scent as she heaved for air, our juices drenching my balls as they leaked from her body.

Wrapping my arm around her, I pulled her up out of the death trap we had created with the cockeyed bed.